Friday, July 25, 2014

Gaza

No, we do not have to accept the status quo. We do not have to accept the fact that our nation unqualifiedly supports Israel. We can hold our representatives accountable. We can insist that those who represent us actually represent us. We can demand a voice for those who abhor the actions of Israel in Gaza. We can insist that our taxes no longer fund Israel's wars of choice. We can insist that Israel does not get to engage in war with impunity. We can call for justice. We can call for peace. We can refuse to answer the outrageous claims of antisemitism. We can refuse to jump on the Zionist bandwagon. We can refuse to let our foreign policy erode our security. We can refuse to be blackmailed by invocations of Auschwitz (with much appreciation and respect for Isaac Deutscher). We can live to see a free, decolonized, and secure Palestine. We can advocate for justice. We can agitate for peace. We can demand that Israel stop perpetuating and escalating the cycle of violence. We can insist that ethics trumps rhetoric and propaganda. We can insist on a higher standard for nationhood than religion, ethnicity, or other nineteenth-century criteria. We can raise ourselves to a higher standard. We can learn to love peace. We can dismantle the machines of war. We can become peace. We can be peace. We are peace. Starting today.